122 Report on Implements at Liverpool, and on 
cutting, except as regards a slight dampness at the bottom of the 
corn. The machine worked at a brisk pace, and made good pro- 
gress with its work for fully 15 minutes, when a slight stoppage 
occurred, in consequence of " greens " getting wrapped round the 
rollers which move the endless web. The whole work was com- 
pleted with only four stoppages, which absorbed 8 J minutes, the 
whole time taken being 33 minutes, leaving 24^ minutes as the 
time actually employed in the process of cutting. The sheaves 
made were particularly neat and uniform, while the tying in this, 
as in the previous instance, was quite perfect, not a single loose 
sheaf being made by either. The attendant to assist in the 
delivery was again allowed ; but this, I believe, was only ren- 
dered necessary by the heavy weight of the sheaves. The power 
which this machine has of propelling and expelling the sheaves 
from the delivery-board is so great, that had the sheaves been 
of the ordinary weight and the straw dry and brittle, I believe 
that no manual assistance would have been required. The 
manner in which it shoots forth the sheaf, as from a catapult, 
after it has been embraced by the " swan-neck," is so effective, 
that it is only on the score of excessive power and of overdoing 
the work that any objection can be made. The liability to 
shake out corn arising from the propulsive power is a question 
which I need not discuss in this place, under the existing cir- 
cumstances, by which a loss of 8J minutes was chiefly necessi- 
tated, for I hold that the main cause of the delays on this occasion 
are to be attributed to those existing circumstances rather than 
to imperfect mechanical design or construction. But one break- 
age of wire occurred, and caused a delay of two minutes, which 
must not be debited to the machine itself. The stubble left was 
an inch shorter than that left by McCormick's machine, while 
the absolute absence of ears in the tail of the machine and of 
straggling straws on the ground was noticeable, and elicited 
universal admiration. The horses moved at a good pace with 
considerable ease, the draught evidently not being excessive ; but 
this point was afterwards settled by the dynamometer. 
D. M. Osborne's " Gordon Reaper " next commenced on plot 1, 
half an acre in extent, and of precisely the same length and 
breadth as the two preceding lots. On this plot the wheat was 
very fine, and one portion of it was considerably more bulky than 
any on either of the other two, the remaining portion being three or 
four bushels per acre higher. The crop stood well and the ground 
now was nearly dry, while the straw was in better condition 
than it had been at any previous time during the day. The land 
being of a sticky character, the drier state of the surface had con- 
siderable cfTect in lessening the apparent draught. The machine 
began cutting at 1.17 P.M., and went on progressing well, with 
